Amritsar, February 15
Hussainpura Chowk resident Harjinder Kaur is running from pillar to post for justice as the police has allegedly failed to take any action against a Congress leader and his henchmen who had beaten her and her husband when they was returning home from market earlier this month.

So much so, the police failed to refer her case for a medical examination even after more than 10 days of the alleged attack, the victim said. Incidentally, the accused is a close relative of the victims who had some property dispute with them.

However, SSP Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, when contacted, said that both the parties had made counter complaints. He said the police was investigating into both the complaints and action would be taken after the probe.

Harjinder, additional programme officer posted in the ADC office, alleged that she was beaten up by the accused and his accomplices for pressurising them. She alleged that the accused was harassing them in one way or another. She alleged the police was also not cooperating with them. She said even though she was not able to walk after beating up by the accused, she was forced to make rounds of the police station for lodging a complaint. She said even they did not bother to refer their case for a medical examination which was conducted by the health department on their personal request after seeing her position.

She alleged that her family members were being involved in false cases by hiring people. Earlier also he had given counter complaints against them. Fearing threat to her life, Harjinder urged the SSP to provide her justice by taking action against the perpetrators of the crime.

Amritsar, February 15
Heavy police presence on the “gheri” routes in the city popped the Valentine’s Day balloon, leaving the revellers fuming. The very sight of riot control vehicles and mounted policemen deterred the revellers from merrymaking on the streets, especially outside the educational institutions.

Except for some activity at the flower and gifts shops on Lawrence Road, which is considered the hub for revellers, the usual hype was missing. There were no youngsters moving around in cars with music playing at full blast.

SSP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh told The Tribune that there were about 1,000 police personnel on the job on the V-Day to avoid any untoward incident. “There were special deployments outside BBK DAV College on Lawrence Road, outside DAV College near Hathi Gate and in the Guru Nanak Dev University area,” he said.

“The police was particularly strict in dealing with youngsters indulging in eve-teasing on the streets and violating traffic rules. It was ensured that the general public do not face inconvenience,” he said.

The SSP, however, admitted that there were isolated incidents related to Valentine’s Day despite the elaborate arrangements made by the police.

Since February 14 is the day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine cards, presenting flowers or offering confectionery, there was huge rush at gifts shops and confectioneries in the city. Most big showrooms in the city were done up with red as the predominant colour and they also offered V-Day discounts to their customers.

According to the tradition, the day is named after two early Christian martyrs named Valentine. It also became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages when the tradition of courtly love flourished. Some of the valentine symbols include red roses, love knots and love birds.

Requesting anonymity, the principal of a local degree college said security was beefed up on the campus to make sure no outsider entered without permission. “There have been instances in the past where boys have tried to enter the main gate on some pretext and ended up creating nuisance,” she said.

Gift shop owners said the V-Day enthusiasm was not limited to students as a large number of newlywed couples also expressed their love for each other with cards and gifts. “Even though we had special gifts, most of them in the shapes of heart, the red roses continued to be the all-age favourites this year as well,” says Ranjit Singh of Jeev Gift Shop in Hall Market.

Amritsar, February 15
In a major initiative, the MLAs, councillors, block presidents and party workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have decided that no money would be wasted on laying the foundation stone of development projects in their wards.

Stating this to the media here, the BJP MLA from north constituency Anil Joshi said the partymen are of the opinion that foundation stone ceremonies involve mindless expenditure. “More than two to three months are wasted for arranging the dates for the foundation stone of small projects which could be completed within few weeks,” he said, adding that the local councillor could inaugurate the work and keep tabs on the work being done in his area.

This would help in speeding up the development works, he further said. He said 8 to 10 per cent of project money goes into the ‘futile foundation functions’. This amount can be used for development, he added. He said the public is interested in the real development. “They don’t want grand functions, only proper work,” he added. Setting aside the rumours of party’s reins being handed over to him at the district level, Joshi said he was not in race for the post, as it puts bigger responsibility on his shoulders and he was not prepared for it now.

He said the present incumbent was doing his job perfectly and there was no need for a change. Besides Joshi, district president (Urban) Bakshi Ram Arora, councillors Anuj Sikka, Pappu Mahajan , block presidents and other party workers were also present.— TNS

Amritsar, February 15
More than 400 geneticists from all over the world would be participating in the fifth international symposium on genetics, health and disease to be held at Guru Nanak Dev University from February 17 to 19. 

The three-day event, being organised by the department of human genetics and centre for genetic disorders of the university, would have three plenary and 18 scientific sessions.

This was disclosed by GNDU vice-chancellor Dr Jai Rup Singh. He said the inaugural address would be delivered by Prof John Burn, medical director and head, Institute of Human Genetics, International Centre for Life, New Castle (UK). He would speak on “Clinical genetics: From diagnosis to treatment and prevention of the disease”. Dr Jai Rup said the symposium would promote a powerful insight into molecular mechanisms, which are based on functional genomics and diagnostics.

The prominent scientists participating in the event, include Prof J. Padbury (USA), Prof S. Sahrma (USA), Prof P. Hansen (USA), Prof Karl Sperling (Germany), Prof S. Ayme (France), Dr Y. Poortman (Netherland), Dr De Stefano (Italy), Dr R. Giugliani (Brazil), Dr Anwar Nasim (Pakistan), Dr A. Galabov (Bulgaria), Dr J.M. Garcia Sagredo (Spain), Dr M. Macek (Czech Republic), Dr M. Vikkula (Belgium), Prof I.C. Verma (India), Prof P. Majumder (India), Prof Y.R. Ahuja (India) and Prof RC. Sobti (India).

He said the event also included two workshops, one on “Reproductive and cardiovascular health: The omics era” and the other on “Down syndrome: Etiology and management” to be held on February 16 and 19, respectively.

The VC said delegates would be concentrating on topics related to basic research as well as applied research and would cover almost all areas of human genetics.

The conference would also focus on “international networking in the OMICS age” for which a special session would be held along with a Joint India-International Genetic Alliance Meeting (International Genetics Alliance of Parent and Patient Organisations).

Amritsar, February 15
Criticising the SAD-BJP combine for drawing political mileage from farmers and the industrial package issue, Congress leaders Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Harpartap Singh Ajnala in a joint statement issued today termed the proposed SAD-BJP rally on February 26 as a political stunt.

The two leaders said the SAD-BJP government had no right to hold any rally on these issues because when the package was announced Sukhbir Badal was the Union industrial minister. They said it was their government which had given tax holiday to the neighbouring states, leaving Punjab in the lurch. They alleged that cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia was making baseless statements on the farmers’ issue and he had no right to do so.

They said it was during the Congress reign that the termination of waters Act was passed in the assembly. The duo said that it was the UPA government which had increased the minimum support price for paddy and wheat.

Besides, the Prime Minister had already disclosed that his government’s plan to extend the relief package for the farming community of the nation.

They said if the Chief Minister was concerned about the farmers’ issues, then he should announce a bonus on wheat.

Amritsar, February 15
A team of the health department raided a chemist shop and seized a huge quantity of capsules, syrups and injections, stocked illegally.

Revealing this to mediapersons here today, Lehmber Singh, civil surgeon, said on an information Sanjeev Garg, drug inspector, accompanied by Dr Inderpal Singh Grover, raided the chemist shop in the Judge Nagar area of the city.

He said the chemist had stocked the drugs illegally in a room adjoining the shop.

He said 10,000 tablets of mycrolit, nitozepam, alprazolam, capsules proxivon spazmproxivon, parvenzpas, dexavon, syrups Fencydyl and Pentajocin and injections Oxitocin and pentaxocin had been illegally stocked by the chemist.

He said the chemist was selling the tablets and capsules in a loose form which could be deadly for the users as it did not mention the manufacturing and expiry dates.

The civil surgeon said a complaint would be filed in the local court against the chemist shop, Jagjit Medicos and Simrat Medicos.

Amritsar, February 15
Dr Geoffrey A. Donnan, president of the World Stroke Organisation, has sought a brief summary of the observations made at the 3rd National Congress of Indian Stroke Association held here from February 8 to 10 to be published in the International Journal of Stroke.

Dr Ashok Uppal, director, Uppal Neuro Hospital and convenor of the conference, said Prof J.S. Chopra, chief editor of World Neurology had also sought a brief on the conference for the journal.

“It is a matter of pride for Amritsar and the organisers of the conference that the city has come up on the global map for stroke treatment. Issues like the harmful effects of smoking, faulty lifestyle and need for early diagnosis of symptoms of stroke were discussed at the conference in which more than 50 neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuro-radiologists and neuro-intensivists from India and abroad participated,” he said.

Amritsar, February 15
Despite all controversies, the much-hyped Jodhaa Akbar movie had a good opening in the holy city. The love saga, which revolves around Mughal emperor Akbar and his Hindu wife, seemed to give movie buffs a time.

Happy with the response, Aanam cinema’s manager J.N. Mehta said there were about 70 to 75 per cent collections for the first two shows and they expected a good response as the audience seemed to have enjoyed the film. Even the response for advance booking is quite good, he added.

He said, “The whole controversy about the film in Rajasthan has only helped in popularising it. The producer has already added a disclaimer that the movie is fiction and should not be treated as a research work. Besides, audience watches movies only for entertainment.”

Talking to The Tribune, Rajinder Bal and his wife Preeti, who watched the movie, said the film release was aptly timed that was just a day after Valentine’s Day. They said, “We are hardly bothered whether queen Jodhaa was married to Akbar or his son Jehangir. True love is the essence of the film and there is no need to be critical about the historic facts.”

Agreeing to them was another movie buff Amit Bansal who works in a bank and believes that the historic facts in movies were hardly important. He said, “The original movie ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ too showed Akbar and Jodha as husband-wife. Now if people can believe that and found the relationship of Dilip Kumar and Madhubala delightful, then this film too has all the ingredients for becoming a legend.”

However, differentiating in the opinion was Rajneesh, a DAV College student. He said, “The drawback of the period films is that they only depict the love lives of the kings and are thus treated like other love stories. In addition, these films generally lose their charm due to allegations of distortion of facts. The same is with Jodhaa Akbar.” However, he believed that it was the presence of only Aishwarya which made audience stick to their seats.

Amritsar, February 15
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has chosen the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) to host the Vizzy Trophy, starting from February 16.

Addressing a press conference, Dr Jai Rup Singh, vice-chancellor of GNDU said the university had earlier organised the prestigious tournament in 1996-1997. He said the tournament would be held under the overall supervision of BCCI on the recommendation of Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi. He said post Independence, GNDU is the only Punjab varsity to have clinched Rohilton Baria All India Inter-University Cricket (Men) tournament on four occasions.

He said international cricket players - Mohinder Amarnath, Madan Lal, Vikram Rathore and Harvinder Singh. Till now more than 50 cricketers of the university had participated in the Vizzy Trophy and around 40 cricket players had represented Punjab in the Ranji Trophy.

In the Vizzy Trophy, seven cricketers of the university - Sumit Sharma, Vanish Bhatia, Hitesh Anand, Rahul Sharma, Tarun Sharma, Vipan and Bharat Lumba - are representing the North Zone team. Sumit Sharma, Rahul Sharma and Bharat Lumba have also been selected to represent Punjab in the Ranji Trophy.

Even the GNDU girls do not lag far behind. The varsity team won the All India Inter-University Women’s Cricket Championship on six occasions. GNDU is also playing host to All India Inter-University Cricket (W) tournament from February 24 to March 8. The varsity has won the coveted Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy for 20 times. It had produced 5 Padmashrees, 27 Arjuna Awardees, one Dhroncharya and one Dhyan Chand Awardee, said the VC.

Giving details on match schedule, Dr Kanwaljit Singh, director sports, said south zone would meet west zone at Campus Ground, while north zone would take on east zone at Gandhi Ground on February 16. The finals would be played from February 20-23 at Gandhi Ground.

To promote sports in the colleges and university, a number of facilities are being created on the campus, he added. They include wooden flooring, indoor multipurpose, gymnasium and Velodrome for cycling. He said the cash prize for sportspersons had also been increased. 

Amritsar, February 15
The Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) has demanded a more rational approach towards the personal security of political leaders and elected representatives.

In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, the AVM viewed that the politicians and elected representatives considered themselves above the law with a number of guards providing security to them at the expense of the government and people’s money.

Manch president Harbhajan Singh Gill drew the attention of the CM to a news report published in the media according to which Punjab spends unlimited expenses on the petrol bill of 33 elected representatives or other VIPs.

He pointed out that according to the media report former Deputy CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, followed by president of All India Anti-Terrorist Front Maninderjit Singh Bitta spent Rs 33 lakh and Rs 24 lakh, respectively, on petrol in the current financial year alone. While former DGP, Punjab police, K.P.S. Gill spent Rs 9 lakh, health minister Lakshmi Kanta Chawla and Gurdas Singh Badal spent Rs 8 lakh each, to mention only a few. Further these figures did not include expenses on the salaries and other allowances admissible to their drivers and gunmen.

Citing examples from political leaders of western countries, the manch president said former British PM Tony Blair, while demitting his office, went to his residence like a common citizen by rail in spite of threat on his life following the bomb blasts 
in London.

Similarly, the Canadian PM drives his own car to office and interacts with fellow Canadians. Even in the USA, there is no tradition of gunmen accompanying services or senators who drive their own vehicles although their country being very rich could well afford to pay for a security cover, he added.

In contrast, our politicians and elected representatives consider themselves above law. Gill urged the CM to form a rational government policy so that the millions of rupees squandered for security could be spent on public welfare. In case any leader needed personal security, they should fund it from their own pocket, he opined. — OC

Amritsar, February 15
A two-day media festival titled “Different Strokes” was organised by the department of journalism and mass communication of BBK DAV College this week. Students from seven colleges in the city participated. The events included quiz, nonsense poetry writing, debate, news reading, radio jockey competition and ad-mad. The festival was inaugurated by SSP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh.

Addressing the students, he said media should give space to positive and developmental stories so that government departments and private institutions feel encouraged to serve society better. The trend, he said, appears to be highlighting only negative news in both print and electronic media. Bimal Bassi, coordinator of the event, said many schools also participated in the media festival.

Amritsar, February 15
The countdown for the general election to the Service Club, established by the British in 1924 in Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, has begun. The executive committee has fixed Baisakhi as the day for holding the elections.

The elections were earlier held on October 22, 2005, after the club was taken over by the district administration in April that year, with the appointment of G.S. Parmar, an officer with the Irrigation Department, as receiver. The government took the decision because the elections had not been conducted by the previous president for the past 10 years. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had appointed a returning officer to conduct these elections which were won by ENT surgeon Dr A.L. Adlakha and his team on October 22.

The newly elected body enrolled 450 new members. Old members were irked when the number of members surpassed the 1,700 mark. Some members also lodged a complaint with the deputy commissioner who is the ex-officio president of the club.

The main contender for the post of the president are retired superintendent of police S.S. Chhina and retired professor of paediatrics Dr Sudesh Sharma. Belonging to the police is likely to be disadvantageous to Chhina, while Dr Sharma is yet to make his own group.

The ruling group has already created legal hurdles for past president Sarabjeet Sandhu. They claim that he (Sandhu) cannot fight the election as the case pertaining to his eviction from the primary membership is pending in the court. On the other hand, a large group of members have been persuading Dr Adlakha to contest for another term due to the development of the club in his tenure.

The ruling group is likely to contest the elections on twin agenda i.e. overall development and halting the shifting of the Club from Summer Palace.

On May 25, 2007, then subdivisional magistrate-cum-collector Vimal Setia had ordered eviction of the Service Club, the Amritsar Club and the Lumbsdon Club from the historic Ram Bagh which had been declared a protected national monument by the Archaeological Survey of India from the last year.

Amritsar, February 15
Dr Rohit Om Parkash from Dr Om Parkash Eye Institute Satyam Netralay will be given a gold medal by the Intraocular Implant and Refractive Society, India (IIRSI). Dr Rohit will be awarded the medal at the inaugural session of the three-day annual conference to be held at Mumbai from August 21 to 23.

The gold medal is being awarded to Dr Rohit for his contribution in the field of Ophthalmology. The annual conference would also present new techniques via live surgeries of the eye by some top eye specialists from the country and abroad, according to a statement here today.

Eye surgeons from the country as well as USA, Brazil, Israel, Singapore and Oman would take participate in the three-day annual conference. — TNS

Amritsar, February 15
Radio jockey Nikhil of 93.4 FM was attacked by three motorcycle-borne assailants near DAV School in the Shastri Nagar area on Thursday. Nikhil was on his way to the office. He was hit on the head with a bottle.

The assailants reportedly told the victim that he was being attacked for not heeding to their advice not to air programmes on Valentine’s Day. The channel had, however, already cancelled broadcast of such programmes in view of the threatening calls received by them. Nikhil was later taken to a hospital and was discharged in the evening. A complaint has been filed with the Civil Lines police station.